Bracket for cartons



April 6, 1943 BRACKET FOR CARTONS Filed Sept. 28, 1942 Patented Apr. 6, 1943 UNITED STATES PATENT OFFICE BRACKET FOR CARTONS Alexander Yafia, Boston, Mass.

Application September 28, 1942, Serial No. 459,969

4 Claims.

This invention relates to a wall bracket for supporting a carton of the kind used for dispensing facial tissue and the like.

It is an object of the invention to provide a bracket which is simple in structure, easy to manufacture, and which is concealed by the carton which it supports.

As hereinafter described, the invention may be embodied in a structure having a horizontal shelf to support a carton, and a pair of upstanding prongs near the rear edge of the shelf on which the carton can be impaled to hold the carton in proper position on the shelf.

For a more complete understanding of the invention, reference may be had to the following description of certain embodiments thereof and to the drawing of which Figure 1 is a perspective view of an embodiment of the invention.

Figure 2 is a perspective view of a modified form of the invention.

Figure 3 is a section on the line 3-3 of Figure 2.

Figure 4 is a section on the line 4-4 of Figure 2.

Figure 5 is a fragmentary perspective view of two of the parts of the device shown in Figure 2.

Figure 6 is a fragmentary perspective view of three of the parts of the device shown in Figure 2.

A bracket embodying the invention may be made from a single piece of sheet metal which is cut to shape and then bent into the form shown in Figure 1. The bracket therein illustrated consists of an upright wall plate In from which a shelf or platform I2 extends horizontally. The wall plate I0 is of any desired-shape and it is provided with holes to receive fasteners such as nails or screws by which the bracket can be secured to the supporting wall. At either end of the wall plate I0 is an upright prong M which is spaced from the top plate l0 as at I6 sufficiently to receive one thickness of cardboard stock of the kind of which is made the carton to be mounted on the bracket. The prongs l4 preferably have sharpened upper extremities as at l8 so that they will readily pierce the bottom of the carton adjacent to the rear wall thereof. The carton is then pushed down on the prongs l4 until its bottom rests on the shelf 12, the prongs being inside of the carton and against the inner surface of its rear wall. The carton thus conceals the wall plate It and the prongs M. The shelf I2 is visible only from below, so that unless the bracket is mounted at a level above the level of the eye of the observer, the entire bracket is concealed by the carton mounted thereon. The shelf thus supports the carton while the prongs serve to hold it in its place on the shelf so that it will neither slide oif nor tip over when the contents of the carton, such as facial tissues or the like, are being with drawn.

As is evident from Figure 1, the bracket illustrated therein can readily be made from a suitably shaped blank of sheet metal by bending the portion Ill up to a vertical position with reference to the horizontal shelf portion I2, and then bending the prongs l4 up from the horizontal position to the vertical position shown in the drawing. The two prongs shown in Figure 1 are just beyond the end edges of the shelf [2, but one or more prongs can be readily struck up from the shelf itself between the end edges thereof in addition to or in lieu of the prongs shown on the drawing.

Figures 2 to 6 illustrate a bracket which is for the same purpose as that shown in Figure 1 but is made of wood, molded plastic or other equivalent material. This bracket comprises a shelf or platform member 20 which is normally horizontal and may consist of a single piece of wood having a groove 22 extending from end to end in the bottom thereof near the rear edge thereof. A wall plate or flange member 24 is secured by a suitable adhesive or otherwise to the under face of the shelf member 20 so that the rear surfaces of the shelf member 20 and the plate member 24 are flush as indicated in Figure 6, The plate member 24 is made with an upstanding tongue or tenon 26 extending from end to end thereof, this tongue being adapted to fit snugly into the groove 22, so that when the members 20 and 24 are cemented together, a strong mortised joint is formed.

After the members 20 and 24 are secured together as described, the vertical mortises or grooves 30 are cut in the ends thereof as shown in Figure 6, these grooves being preferably contiguous to the end portions of the tongue 26. The grooves 30 are adapted to receive in tightly fitted engagement the base portions 32 of a pair of prongs 34 which project upward from the top face of the shelf 20 as illustrated in Figure 2. The base portions 32 are preferably secured in the slots 30 by a suitable adhesive cement so as to make a permanent joint. Nails or other fastening means may also be employed for this purpose. The base portions 32 thus stiffen the joint between the shelf member 20 and the flange member 24. The prongs 3 are preferably made of a comparatively hard wood or equivalent substance and are suitably tapered to sharp points 36 at their upper extremities. The cross sectional shape of the prongs 34 may vary as desired. By way of illustration, a prong is shown having a diamond-shaped cross section at its lower part merging into a narrow cigar-shaped cross section as indicated in Figures 3 and 4. The bracket shown in Figure 2 operates in the same manner as that shown in Figure 1. When the bracket has been secured to a wall by any suitable means so that the shelf 23 is substantially horizontal, a carton is mounted thereon by pressing the bottom of the carton against the sharp points 36 of the prongs 3 so that the bot-- tom of the carton is penetrated by the prongs which then project up into the carton as the carton is pushed down toward the shelf 25 The prongs 34 are sufficiently spaced forward from the plane of the rear face of the shelf 2f] to allow clearance for the rear wall of the carton between the prongs and the supporting wall against which the bracket is mounted when the carton is impaled on the prongs.

It is evident that various modifications and changes may be made in the embodiments of the invention herein illustrated and described without departing from the spirit or scope thereof as defined in the following claims.

I claim:

1. A wall bracket for supporting a carton or the like, comprising a vertical plate adapted to be secured against a wall, a horizontal shelf projecting forward from said plate, and a pair of upstanding pointed prongs extending upward from said shelf near the rear edge thereof but sufficiently spaced forward thereof to provide clearance for the rear wall of a carton impaled on said prongs.

2. A wall bracket for supporting a carton or the like, comprising a horizontal shelf member having a groove in its bottom face extending parallel and adjacent to the rear edge thereof, a vertical plate member secured to said shelf member with its rear face flush wtih the rear edge of the shelf member, said plate member having a tongue along its upper edge fitted into said groove, and a pair of prongs projecting up from said shelf near the rear edge thereof, said shelf and plate members having a mortise at each end thereof, said prongs having base portions fitted and secured in said mortises.

3. A wall bracket for supporting a carton or the like, comprising a single piece of sheet metal having a horizontal shelf portion, a vertical plate portion at the rear edge of the shelf portion, and a pair of prongs projecting up from the plane of the shelf portion and spaced slightly forward from the plate portion.

i. A wall bracket for supporting a carton or the like, comprising a horizontal shelf, means extending vertically from the rear edge of said shelf adapted to be secured to a vertical wall to support said shelf rigidly in a horizontal position, and an upstanding prong near each end of said shelf, said prongs being spaced forward from the rear edge of the shelf just enough to provide clearance for the thickness of the rear wall of a carton impaled on said prongs.

ALEXANDER YAFFA. 

